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Home › Money

Question of the Day | 05/19/2009 11:00 pm

If you were to start a business today, what kind of business do you think would be the most recession-proof?

Liz Smith, Mary Wells and Joan Ganz Cooney suggest recession-proof careers.
© Shutterstock
Joan Ganz Cooney

Joan Ganz Cooney | 05/19/2009 11:00 pm

Joan Ganz Cooney's Dream Start-Up

If I were starting a business, it certainly would be in film and television. I don’t know about recession-proof but I do know about mindless passion. 
comments2 Comments
Liz Smith

Liz Smith | 05/19/2009 11:00 pm

Liz Smith: Health Care Is a 'Surefire' Business

I’d think a surefire business today would be something to do with health care. There are going to be an awful lot of old folks in America for the next 20 years and they are going to be very needy.
comments3 Comments
Mary Wells

Mary Wells | 05/19/2009 11:00 pm

Mary Wells: 'We Aren't a Recession-Proof Species'

I don’t think businesses or banks or even governments can be recession-proof in this world because we aren’t a recession-proof species. I think it would help if we started teaching young students how to be recession-proof individuals from their first day in school. 
comments0 Comments
Read more about: Business, Finance, Money, Recession, Work

36 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Linda Myers
My mission someday, is too have a holistic/spiritual center. A center where all aspects are brought together. In this area anyway, it is one business that has actually grown via the recession, rather than been hurt.
By Linda Myers on 05/20/2009 1:22 am
Karen R
to piggyback Liz Smith’s comment, and at the risk of sounding morbid, mortuary sciences
By Karen R on 05/20/2009 1:42 am
Judy K.
Actually, I heard that there aren’t as many funeral parlors because people aren’t dying as young as they used to and, because of cost, just want to be cremated without any kind of service. 
By Judy K. on 05/20/2009 2:24 am
MK P

Interesting………..I hadn’t heard this, but it does make sense.   

By MK P on 05/20/2009 6:33 am
B Clark
With the rise in the numbers of the aging (they can’t live forever), it will be a steady business.  Cremation costs money too and they require a coffin to cremate you in.  In green cemeteries, there’s no headstone and no embalming, but they requite a plain biodegradable wooden coffin.  There are insurance company s set up to cover the cost of funerals/burial costs, AND with or without a will, the funeral home gets paid out of the estate before probate or anyone else.  Remember, funerals are really for the living and relatives will insist on tradition even if it sets them back a bit.  Death is a very traditional fact of life.
By B Clark on 05/20/2009 11:12 am
Carrie On
Well, I’ve never been the entrepreneurial type—been an artist/designer of some sort most of my life.  This wouldn’t make a lot of money, but I could design business cards (for people looking for jobs); and if the whole thing falls to pieces and there’s a revolution, it’d need posters and banners.
By Carrie On on 05/20/2009 3:17 am
Laurie Deer
With capital to back it, I would go into real estate.  
By Laurie Deer on 05/20/2009 5:27 am
Jeannot Kensinger
Ok, I would start a luxurious brothel and I would be the Madam, you did ask what was recession proof!
By Jeannot Kensinger on 05/20/2009 6:51 am
Andrea Brandon
LOL  My thought exactly!
By Andrea Brandon on 05/20/2009 11:36 am
Kris Merrill
What’s inevitable? Death and taxes and septic system back-ups. So own a crematory, work for the IRS or run a "honey bucket" service. Doesn’t sound like fun!!!
By Kris Merrill on 05/20/2009 7:22 am
C jay
LOL … you are all nutso. ;-)) Thanks for the laugh at this hour!
By C jay on 05/21/2009 2:09 am
deber B

Not long ago I sold my decorating business, a sometimes very lucrative labor of love and sometimes not so lucrative depending on the time of the year.  

Today, I would open an Upscale Consignment Shop where I live in an old historic town on the Potomac River.    Foot traffic is very important for this type of enterprise.

Preparing for this type of venture is quite easy.   Frequent ads in local newspapers asking for upscale consignment pieces puts the inventory in the shop.   As owner, you would not have to pay for your inventory until the item sold….50% goes to the owner of the item and 50% to the shopkeeper.   It would be important to overstock with a "backroom" so that new inventory could be moved to the front regularly.   Pricing of these items is key.   They must be priced to move quickly.   It is a "win-win" situation for those looking to sell and those looking to find items of great value at a bargain price.   Volume of sales because items are priced low insure steady revenue for the shop.

The success of this type of business would be determined on one word "upscale" merchandise.   Many retired couples have amassed furniture and collectibles from all over the world.   At some point they want to downsize and this type of shop would be the happy recipient of their travels!

I’m getting excited just thinking about it.

By deber B on 05/20/2009 7:27 am
Green Tears

I like this idea - what a great way for the ‘starting out’ crowd to be able to furnish their homes. Home furnishing can be an expensive proposition.

I have a friend who has an upscale clothing consignment shop and she is now opening a second location with just ‘regular’ (for want of a better term!) clothing. I think it’s a good move - bargains are what everyone is looking for right now.

By Green Tears on 05/20/2009 8:22 am
deber B
Green Tears….no "start up" costs….no huge inventory debt…I wouldn’t deal in clothing, although I think there is a strong market for it….I would deal in home furnishings only…..old oriental carpets, lamps, china, antique or reproduction furniture, etc.
By deber B on 05/20/2009 11:49 am
C Hardy
I am there with Deber - I would say a baby to adult confignment shop.  You bring in clothes for money or trade in…I love those shops around here.  You can get some great deals.  I normally get most of my daughters clothes from this one trade in shop.  Its great.  I have noticed that more and more people are shopping there and trading in. 
By C Hardy on 05/20/2009 8:24 am
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